About Time
by Shidoin
Summary: It's supposed to be one blind date for two strangers to get to know eachother. Who knew that in the other person they each would find exactly what it was they were missing in life? Going to rate it T for now, but may change to M later if I feel the need.
1. Chapter 1

**Note: I in no way own Ranma, Akane or any of the other crazy people in this story line. I am however a big fan of the Ranma/Akane coupling and decided to make my own version of their story. I'd like to pre apologize if anyone has already done this same kind of story, I am not aware of it and am not trying to copy. As I'm still new to whole fanfic writing thing I'd appreciate it you guys went kinda easy on me, but feel free to leave constructive critisism as I need to learn to walk if I am to ever grow.**

**I'd also like to thank Everfly who is my prereader for my stories here.**

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO**

Ranma paced back and forth the lenght of his bedroom. How he'd ever magaged to let the guys talk him into this he'd never know. It's not like he didn't have a life, and it definitely wasn't as if he was lonely or anything. Still, as most folks know there's nothing wrong with a little companionship, and after all...it was just a date. Not like he was being introduced to a girl and being forced into an engagement or anything like that. He took the small plastic basketball he'd been holding and through it easily through a small hoop on the wall oposite him.

Ranma had done a lot of martial arts training abroad with his father and was still fairly new back to school, but his old friends had taken no time in pointing out that being without a girl was NOT going to put a good image on him and it was quickly decided to set him up. The plans were easy enough. A new family had moved to town recently, the Tendo family. Among them were Soun Tendo and his daughters, Kasumi, Nabiki, and Akane. Akane hadn't come along with the family yet as she was in the middle of a school production and therefore was staying at her grandmother's house for another week. Akane (thanks to Nabiki and a few of Ranma's friends) is the girl who Ranma was to go out with when she arrived.

_'I wonder what she looks like...'_ he thought to himself remembering the one occasion he asked Nabiki to see a photo and her spouting off some junk about him **paying** to get a glimps. Forget that! He would wait to see her in person and be sure to kill his friends later if they'd gotten him into something terrible without even looking into it.

Of course he was a bit nervous, Nabiki had told him that she informed Akane about the date, but she had conveniently failed to mention what her response to the whole thing was. With a determined sigh he threw the ball once again and again it sailed easily through the hoop on the wall.

"Heh...I haven't met any challenge I couldn't face." He said to himself "and meeting this girl isn't going to be any different!"

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO**

((applauds and cheering in the crowd))

The line of actors took a final bow and near the center of the line was Akane Tendo. She looked out and spotted her teary eyed grandmother in the front row. She wished silently in her heart that her father and sisters could have been there. However she knew that he father had to get to Nerima to set up the martial arts school that had been put on hold after the girls mother died until the girls were old enough to not have Soun worry quite so much about them. The fact that Akane had ended up (aside from her many other talents such as theater and gymnastics) with a great skill for the art was a big push in her father deciding to move back to his old home to re open the school.

Akane's mind continued to wander to her Father and sisters who seemed so far away. Other than her share of the love for the arts with her father she wasn't particually well connected in very many ways with her family. Kasumi was very motherly and acted much like a house wife wood as shortly after the death of their mother she'd taken to learning how to keep house by doing things like cooking, laundry, sewing, and other household chores. Akane herself was prone to being a little more on the sloppy side. Not horredously sloppy, but she wasn't very tidy with her things. Sewing was something she rarely did as most of the time her family couldn't even guess correctly what she'd made, and her cooking...well lets just say that it was pretty much decided by the family that Akane should save her cooking skills for when the government called in need of new weapons.

Nabiki was a world all her own. This woman could get a person to pay her countless amounts of money for pretty much nothing. Of course when she found out they were moving back to Nerima she was right on the wagon and ready to leave for the land of opportunity.

Akane sighed as the line of actors stood for a few more seconds with their hands clasped in the air. Then she walked back stage with her friends.

"Oh Akane! I can't believe you're actually going to be gone in a few days!" one said. "I mean...can't you just stay here and live with your grandma instead of going?"

Akane had a small tear in her eye, "You know I'm going to miss all of you so much...but I just can't stay here. I need my family and they need me"

She really didn't know if her family **did** need her. After all...she wasn't the homemaker and she wasn't the money maker. Her father had everything he needed for a complete household rolled up in his two oldest daughters. Although Soun did love his youngest daughter very much and even though she didn't know it he thought she would be the one to carry on the family school and hold up the family honor. No, she wasn't at all sure how much her family actually needed her, but she knew for sure that she needed them.

Later Akane was home in her small room. She didn't mind its size as the situation was pretty sudden and her grandmother didn't have a very big house. She had just been greatful that she hadn't had to bail on the production. It was Monday night and she would be leaving that Thursday evening on a 4 hour train ride to a place she hadn't been since she was just a baby. Then her thoughts turned to a phone conversation she'd had with Nabiki a few days after her family had gone. This conversation consisted of Nabiki telling Akane that she was setting her up with a guy from school. She had began to argue but decided that it couldn't hurt to at least meet this person. If nothing else maybe she'd find herself a friend, and she knew that friends was something she was going to need.

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO**

**AN: I think this chapter is probably a bit on the short side but I really just kind of wanted it more as a set up for the start of the real story. So, tell me what you think! Does it seem like it could have the makings to be something readable? Constructive critisism only please! I know you have to know your faults if you are to improve on them...but you can point them out without being mean about it. XD**


	2. Chapter 2

**Note: I in no way own Ranma, Akane or any of the other crazy people in this story line. I am however a big fan of the Ranma/Akane coupling and decided to make my own version of their story. I'd like to pre apologize if anyone has already done this same kind of story, I am not aware of it and am not trying to copy. As I'm still new to whole fanfic writing thing I'd appreciate it you guys went kinda easy on me, but feel free to leave constructive critisism as I need to learn to walk if I am to ever grow.**

**I'd also like to thank Everfly who is my prereader for my stories here.**

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO**

School usually went by faily slowly, today however seemed to drag even longer for Ranma and he waited for the final bell to ring feeling like he might actually explode. He knew that Akane had arrived in town the day before but she hadn't come to school yet. However their date had been set up for this very evening (which Nabiki was sure to remind him of that very morning) and as much as he tried to hide it (even from himself) he had a bad case of the jitters. Finally the bell rang and Ranma was out of the building so fast you might have missed him if you had taken the time to blink.

He had wanted to get home as fast as he could in order to pick up some final tips for the evening from his mother Nodoka. His father, Genma would surely be of no help in the matter. To him dating was a pointless part of the system of companionship. In his mind Ranma needed to just pick a woman to take as a wife and autimatically carry on the name of Saotome. As if Ranma could honestly just go into a huge crowd, point out a girl he liked, and club her over the head to drag back to his cave. No that wasn't what Ranma wanted. He wasn't sure he was ready to even starting thinking about marraige, let alone rush into it. No, he much prefered the thought of getting to know a girl and being friends. If it lead to more it lead to more and that was great, but only if it was great for both of them.

Ranma neared the yard of his home and jumped down from the high fence he'd been running on. The fence running, of course, was a contant martial arts practice of his. Ranma was always, and sometimes unkown to himself, doing common everyday things with a twist of training in them. If his father had given him anything it was his determination without hesitation. However matters of the heart were a different matter completely Ranma had no intention of taking in some random girl to marry and make babies with as his father would probably have him do.

"I'm home!" he shouted as he walked through his front door.

As he walked through the living room towards the kitchen he could smell brownies baking in the oven. Oh how he loved it when his mother baked. In his mind the perfect woman would have many of the same qualities his mother had. In the sense that he wanted to be with someone who was compassionate, firm but loving at the same time. Of course being able to make a nice home cooked meal would be a definite plus, but Ranma knew that no one was perfect.

"Ranma!" His mother stood from the table where she'd been sitting and working on her knitting. "How was school, son? I hope you don't mind but I thought I'd make some brownies. I figured you could use some extra energy for your date tonight and maybe you could also take some to the Tendo's when you go. I know Mr. Tendo is a single father and I'm sure his family will appreciate the gesture."

"Sure thing Mom." Ranma smiled at her...then "Hey mom, I was hearing some people talk at school today about some Tendo's who lived here 16 or 17 years ago. Are they in any relation to the Tendo's who just moved in do ya think?"

"Actually son, Soun Tendo is in fact the very Tendo who moved away years ago, but of course you were just a baby at the time so you'd never remember him. In fact back in the day Soun and Genma (Ranma's father) actually trained quite a bit together...I supposed that will work in your favor since you and Mr. Tendo will have something of interest to talk about!" Nodoka laughed, "In fact I think it's kind of funny that you happen to be meeting the family by chance because of your blind date...I wonder when you might have met them otherwise...those men were once very close friends after all."

Ranma gave his mother a kiss on the cheek before pulling her chair out for her again and got himself a glass of juice before sitting down himself.

"So, mom..."Ranma began and she could tell he seemed to be nervous.

"Don't worry about a thing son." She interupted. "Soun was a good man back when your father and I knew him and I expect that he raised 3 good daughters."

Ranma had only met Nabiki and wasn't sure yet whether or not he considered her to be a friend or to even be a **good **person for that matter. He did know that she had an older sister although he wasn't sure on her name just yet and that she had a younger sister named Akane. He also knew that their father had been raising them alone for the past several years after their mother was lost to illness, but after recieving Nabiki's look he hadn't pressed that story further.

"Yeah, I'm sure the Tendo's are great...and I really hope that Akane and I can at least hit it off as friends...but what if...Mom, what if she finds out and she hates me for it?" Ranma trailed off at the last.

His mother sighed, "Ranma what happened to you in China was an accident and anyone who can't accept you and everything about you isn't worth being friends withanyway". A flash of guilt swept over here momentarily as she remembered the day a few months ago when her husband and son had returned from their trip and discovering Genma had someone managed to get the both of them cursed to change forms with cold water. She never got all the details, but she knew that her husband turned into a giant panda while her one and only son apparently turned into a girl. She had been horrified at first and wasn't sure if it was something she'd be able to handle. In the end, though, Ranma was her son and his curse was just something he'd have to deal with like every other training method that didn't go as planned.

She looked at Ranma for a minute and studied his forehead. She knew he was nervous, but she admired how his forehead always looked so calm. Her son definitely had become very good at holding his emotions together...well...most of the time, but she did't want to think about that particular training that could have earned her husband an early grave courtesy of her had he not begged for his own life saying that his training was always in Ranma's best interest.

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO**

Akane had spent little time in her new home since she'd arrived the previous evening. She'd known that they were moving to a house with a dojo in order for her father to teach, and wanted to get in there to check it out as quickly as possible. Yes, martial arts was definitely Akane's passion and in her mind, though she had her other talents and hobbies, nothing relaxed her quite a much as taking her fist to some poor brick held up on blocks of wood.

Her father had permitted her to stay home from school that day since she'd only arrived the previous evening and he figured she could use a day to just rest from the trip, and she didn't feel like arguing. In truth she would have prefered to get school over with. At least then she'd have had someone to hopefully talk to at some point during the day. However she was more than happy to take that time to get in some good workout time in the dojo.

_'Just a few more bricks and I'll go get ready'_ she thought to herself as she raised her hand in the air sideways and layed to shame yet another defensless brick. She knew that Ranma would be arriving in the next couple hours to pick her up and meet everyone, other than Nabiki that is.

Nabiki had failed to mention too much about Ranma. She had said that he seemed like he was probably pretty athletic, but didn't say anything about if he was actually good looking and of course Akane knew better than to even ASK if Nabiki had taken a picture of him. In fact she was sure her sister had probably taken at least one picture of him as she took pictures of a lot of people, but with Nabiki nothing was free and being family was no exception to her.

At last Akane walked to the wall where her water bottle and towel were waiting on the floor, picked them up and went into the house. She walked first upstairs to her bedroom where her suitcase lay open still full of clothes on her new bed. She knew they were lucky to get a house already furnished so they didn't have to worry about moving too many things, but she would miss her back home. She knew that she should probably get to putting things away, but still couldn't seem to get herself to do it yet. Tomorrow would be a new day and she'd have a whole day past her in her new home them. Yes, she would live out of her suitcase for just one more night.

She grabbed her robe from the suitcase and headed back downstairs to the furo where she put up the occupied sign closed the door and slid out of the gi she'd spent the day working out in. Filling up the nearby bucket with cool water she braced herself for the shock of cold that was about to come. It always felt nicer after a hard workout, but still...cold water was cold water no matter how you looked at it. She poored the cool water overself and shivered a bit. Then she proceeded to use the soap to wash her body and lathered some lavender shampoo into her long hair thinking about how long it had taken her to grow her hair so long she smiled. Ever since she was little she remembered wanting to have long hair because Kasumi's hair was so long and beautiful. Bringing her thoughts back she filled bucket once more and rinsed the soap and shampoo away. Then she stepped into the warm water of the tub to help soak her soar muscles.

_'I wonder what Ranma's like'_, she thought. _'Oh gods, I hope he's not as big a jerk as a lot of the guys back at my old school.'_ She remembered one student in particular that she would definitely not miss. Tatewaki Kuno the school bully who had scared any other patential guy from asking Akane out by saying that they were in love and that he'd use his wrath on anyone who tried to come between them. To the contrary, Akane could barely stand Kuno and the thought of ever being his lover was enough to make her stomach churn. She let herself relax a bit in the warm water. All that was behind her now and somehow or other she was bound to make a fresh start here. Even if she didn't date, it was going to be because she literally couldn't get a guy to ask her out. She'd have the option if she wanted and at the very least she was fine with just making some good friends. She knew her friends from her old school said they'd keep in contact with her...she also knew they'd said the same thing to another friend who'd moved away just under a couple years prior and knew that promise hadn't kept for long.

Akane sat there for a while longer before deciding that it was time to get out and go decide what she was going to where. Ranma and Akane had decided (through Nabiki of course) that this was going to be a fairly casual date. Really just a get together for two people to get to know eachother. Akane was fine with this. She put on her robe and ran up to her room and closed the door. After a few minutes she decided on a yellow tanktop with a purple flower near the center of the chest and a short blue jean skirt with some sandles. It was nice without being too overly flashy. She looked herself in the mirror that was built onto her door with some satisfaction. Then she went and sat on her bed. She knew that Ranma could arrive any moment but couldn't get herself to go back downsairs yet. She thought momentarily of waiting at her window to catch a glimps of him as he walked up to the door, but decided against it thinking it wouldn't be fair to see him before he got to see her...especially without him knowing about it. She let out a long sigh.

_'What if he doesn't like me? Gods...what if he can't stand me?...I mean...if someone like Kuno was in love with me...maybe that says something about...'_

"Akane! Ranma's here!" Nabiki called from the bottom of the stairs.

Akane bolted up from her now slightly slouched position on the bed, "Okay, I'll be right down!" She called as she gave herself one more glance in the mirror. She opened her door and headed down the hall to the stairs. Reaching the bottom of the stairs Nabiki motioned her to the living room area where Ranma had apparently been lead by Soun to chat before they left. She walked into the room and both men stood up. Soun and Ranma. Ranma was indeed handsome to say the least. His jet black hair was pulled into a braid that Akane found to be surprisingly cute in a way. He wore a blue chinese style shirt and plane black pants. He smiled when he saw her making her blush slightly.

"Well, Akane, I think you two are going to have a great time!" Soun said with a big grin on his face. "And Ranma...don't you forget to have the father of yours come on over for a visit sometime! I think it's about time he and I catch up on the old times!"

Ranma nodded "Can do Mr. Tendo"

He then walked up to Akane and held out his hand, "And you must be Nabiki's sister, Akane?"

Akane nodded "Yes, I'm pleased to meet you Ranma." He smiled again which again caused a blush to form on her cheeks.

"Well, I'm really horrible with all this family chatter stuff", Ranma chuckled, "Shall we be off then Akane?"

"Yes, lets!" Akane smiled and allowed Ranma to take her by the arm.

"You be sure to take care of my little girl, Ranma!" Soun warned in a friendly tone, "And honey do have a good time okay?"

Ranma and Akane nodded and with that were out the door.

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO**

**AN: I had thought about having the whole date scene in this chapter, but I felf like it was shaping out nicely without the date actually starting. Of course the next chapter will be focused on the date and therefore the 2 love birds will have more screen time together. How do you like the twist I put in about Kuno not actually being from Nerima? I still haven't decided how I'm going to throw everyone in, but hopefully I think of something creative.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Note: I in no way own Ranma, Akane or any of the other crazy people in this story line. I am however a big fan of the Ranma/Akane coupling and decided to make my own version of their story. I'd like to pre apologize if anyone has already done this same kind of story, I am not aware of it and am not trying to copy. As I'm still new to whole fanfic writing thing I'd appreciate it you guys went kinda easy on me, but feel free to leave constructive critisism as I need to learn to walk if I am to ever grow.**

**I'd also like to thank Everfly who is my prereader for my stories here.**

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO**

Ranma and Akane just walked down for a few minutes before Ranma stopped to look at Akane.

"So, is there anything inparticular you'd like to do on this date? I could show you around if you'd like, or we could just talk? Go to dinner? Tonight it's lady's choice!", he beamed and Akane couldn't help but let out a small giggle.

"Hmmm..." She pondered outloud. "I guess I really wouldn't mind just going someplace quiet like the park or something...I'd really like to get to know you and to me where you go doesn't change what you can know about a person." She smiled and added, "and I really hope that you and I can be friends."

"Yeah, I'd like that too." Ranma said and they were back off down the street. "The park is only a couple blocks up this way.

The continued to walk down the deserted street towards the park arm in arm and for the moment just enjoying the peace. Finally Ranma spoke again.

"So, I heard around that your family actually used to live here in town, but that you moved away some years ago."

"Yes", she replied. "Or as far as I know at least...I mean I was only a small baby when we moved so I have to take my father's word on it that we actually lived here, seeings as how there's no way I'd remember that myself."

"Hmmm..."

"What is it?"

"Well, apparently our fathers used to be friends who trained together back in the day", he stated "So I'm just wondering if you and I might have met once before you moved, and of course we wouldn't remember it because we were both just infants at the time."

"Heh!" Akana chuckled, "What a small world that would be, eh?"

Both teens laughed now.

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO**

Shampoo was not happy. She was not happy at all. Shampoo was Furinkan High's exchange student from China, and as a girl who'd been trying for some time to the attention of one Ranma Saotome she wasn't at all pleased when she heard through the grapevine that he was going to take out some girl he'd never met. Shampoo was beautiful to put it mildly. Her hair was long, dark, and silky down past her knees and she always knew the most flattering chinese outfits to where to make all the men go upside down for her. All the men it seemed except for Ranma. This is what drove her crazy because Ranma was the one that she not so secretly wanted.

_'This girl think can come take my Ranma away, she got another thing coming!'_, she thought to herself as she looked in her mirror that evening. '_Don't know what Ranma see in stupid girl anyway! Shampoo much better for Ranma! Stupid date girl way too..."_

Shampoo was forced to stop in her tracks and she realized that she had no idea what this girl was. No one knew much about her except that her sister was already going to the school, and she hadn't made it a huge point to hang around in Nabiki's circle. Rumors weren't always true, but if they were then Shampoo knew that Nabiki wasn't really a person she could **afford** to associate with even if she'd wanted to.

"Shampoo!" A voice came from downstairs. It was Shampoo's grandmother. "Come help me clear up the rest of the dishes please, child!"

"Yes, Greatgrandmother!"

Shampoo had come with her great grandmother to Japan from China. She went to school during the days and in the evenings and on weekends she helped her elder run her small resteraunt. It wasn't much...really just a place for a nice bowl of ramen, but it had become a popular place to go in town as well call in for take out. In fact Soun Tendo himself had called for delivery one or two times since he moved to town with his two older children on an occassion where he thought Kasumi really needed a break from doing the same thing day after day.

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO**

"You've got to be kidding me!" Ranma had to stop pushing the swing Akane was on to let his brain process the information she'd just given him. "You mean to tell me that you had no interest in this guy whatsover...and he still made you to out to be some sort of destined lovers?"

Akane sighed, "The Kunos are a very powerful family. It didn't take much convincing on his part for everyone to accept the fact that we were together even as much as I said I wanted nothing to do with him."

"So, I bet he's one thing you're happy to have left behind, huh?" Ranma asked, having taking back to pushing Akane on her swing.

"Hai!", she exclaimed happily, "I mean...it's not like I want to go out and date every guy in school, but I'd like to have options ya know?" Ranma nodded. "And if it comes down to me only wanting to date one guy then so be it. " she gave a quick glance over her shoulder at Ranma who smiled at her and she blushed.

"So tell me something about you..." she said.

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO**

Ryoga Habiki walked down the quiet road alone. He knew that Akane Tendo had moved to a place called Nerima. Unfortunately though he hadn't the foggiest idea of where that was or where he was for that matter. Akane had met Ryoga a few months earlier, but of course she hadn't really known who it was when she met him. See, like Ranma and his father, Ryoga spent some time in China and he also had managed to end up with a cursed body like them. So the first time Akane met him he'd been in the form of a small black piglet that she soon took to calling P Chan. It wasn't until a couple weeks later that he happened to run into her by chance in his human form and of course they hit it off as friends right away. Of course he never brought up the fact to her that he was in fact one and the same with her pet pig who'd been missing for some weeks now.

The truth was that after just a short time of being Akane's _pet_ that Ryoga had started developing serious feelings for her so when he finally met her in person and was so relieved that she seemed to like him he became scarred that if she knew about his curse she'd turn him away. Deep down it was also partly because Akane and knowingly and willingly been naked on many occasions in front of P Chan and by telling her the truth he'd be telling her that he knowingly and willingly **let** her get naked in front of him every day. After all...who cares about changing for bed and school in front of their pets?

No, for the time being Ryoga decided it was best to just keep things as they were. He couldn't bring himself to not be there for her as a pig. Since she'd unknowingly been telling him her inner most secrets he'd taken it upon himself to be her unkown watcher, and as long as she trusted him as a person he felt like he had the right to take on the responsibility of protecting her without her having to know about it. He knew in his heart that one day she would fall in love with him. Not his curse, but the real him...then he'd tell her the truth of who he was. After all once she was in love with him he knew she'd forgive him for becoming so personal with her without her consent.

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO**

"I want to meet the person who invented chocolate and shake his hand!" Akane was grinning from ear to ear and Ranma couldn't help but laugh.

"Waiter! Another round for the lady!" He called to a passing waiter.

The two had spent more time talking at the park when Akane was hit with a sudden craving for a serious chocolate sundae. Ranma had ordered an icecream cone and had sense finished and was watching Akane eat.

_'She's real cute when she's in such a happy mood.'_ he thought to himself. _'Then again..she's been in a pretty good mood all evening...hmmm...guess maybe I really do think she's cute. Hahah! I bet she'd be a real tyrant though if she were to get angry...which also sounds kinda cute...hmmm...'_

"So um...eh" ((Ranma clears his throat and Akane looks up)) "I was wondering if you might wanna um..you know...do this again sometime? Only this time it'll be more official..with me actually asking you out..." He began blushing slightly but Akane just smiled at him.

"I'd love to go out with you again, Ranma." She took his had momentarily and squeezed it and for an instant he felt his heart flutter.

It was only a moment that their hands touched but in that moment an eternity passed by for both Ranma and Akane. Ranma couldn't help but notice that her hand was extremely soft to the touch and couldn't keep himself from then wondering what kind of moisturizer she must use. He liked it. Briefly he let his thoughts wander to other soft patches of skin she may have. He brought himself back to the real world quickly though reminding himself that this still was, after all, only their first date and rushing into things wouldn't be good for either of them.

Akane on the other hand and let her mind go a little further than Ranma had at the feel of his masculine hand and had infact actually forgotten to start breathing again until Ranma was able to get her attention.

"Um...Ranma I don't..."

"Want to put anything on the table to quickly?" He interupted with a smile.

She nodded. "What I'm feeling right now is all so strange to me and I'm afraid it might be that I just haven't spent any quality time with a guy...I don't want to tell you I like you and then realize I don't."

"I understand that. I want to take things one step at a time. So far I think I'd like to get to know you better...oh thank you" he turned to the waiter who'd come back with the bill.

"Have a good night and come again!" the waiter said with a cheery smile. It was one of those smiles that looked to be fake...it was possible he had just had to work a double shift.

Akane finished her icecream shortly after that and after Ranma paid off the tab they walked out of the building together.

"It's getting pretty late...do you think I should get you home now?" Ranma asked.

"Um...yeah, I guess that would probably be best. I don't want Dad and my sisters to worry about me."

With that the two walked back in the direction of Akane's house. By this time they were actually hand in hand and the whole way home they stayed in quiet conversation every so often letting out small bursts of laughter as they came across topics of Ranma's father and his crazy training ideas. Of course one training topic did not come up. Ranma had almost decided that he wanted to tell Akane about his curse, but still wasn't sure if he could bring himself to so that stayed hidden away for yet another day.

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**AN: Well, that's it for our first date and chapter three! I hope everyone enjoyed it. I'm finding that I'm really enjoying writing this story and I hope I can keep it up. Also I hope folks are enjoying reading it as much as I am enjoying writing it. Please leave any remarks and (helpful) critism. However do remember to watch that fine line between helpful and just being plain mean. **


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